Load balancing solutions currently exist that are used for Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) and Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) systems. Traditional load balancing solutions in this industry allow communications to be distributed across an available group of computing resources or servers so that each computing resource or server of the group handles a similar or equal amount of activity. This kind of solution typically relies on a standard load balancer, which is one node or a cluster of nodes that acts as a proxy for communications. The load balancer serves as a traffic director that relies upon configurable logic for distributing the communication activity to the group of available computing resources or servers. Many types of load balancing solutions exist for a variety of systems and such solutions often include hardware-based solutions, software-based solutions, or some combination of both hardware-based and software-based solutions.
The requirements of a hosted VoIP private branch exchange (PBX) have created the need for a new kind of load balancing solution, one that goes beyond previous systems and techniques to optimize the reliability and quality of VoIP communications and the performance of PBX features. Pre-existing load balancing solutions lack critical features to balance communications in a way that can significantly increase the reliability of good VoIP call quality from a limited set of computing resources and are not designed to balance communications in a way that facilitates PBX optimizations for intra-group communications like call transfers and conference calls. An improved load balancing solution for hosted VoIP PBX would provide a way to increase the reliability of VoIP quality of service and increase the efficiency of intra-group communications while balancing the load of electronic communications across a limited set of computing resources or servers in such a way that also protects against unforeseen load increases or spikes in demand.
The present invention meets one or more of the above-referenced needs as described herein in greater detail.